While we’ve been busy celebrating the holiday season around here with our 2013 Holiday Guide, in truth, the holidays can be a lonely time for many — especially for 
service members that are far away from home or recovering in a hospital. So, in continuing with our holiday theme of giving back to others, we’re going to elaborate on one of our 25 Random Acts of Kindness items — sending a holiday card to a soldier. This random act of kindness is the perfect activity for families, classrooms, girl or boy scout troops, and more, as they’re celebrating the holiday season.
The best way to complete this activity — and to ensure that your cards end up in the hands of an active duty or recovering soldier — is to use the program operated by the American Red Cross called “Holiday Mail for Heroes.” Launched in 2007, the American Red Cross delivers holiday greetings to veterans, military families and active-duty service members at hospitals and installations around the world through this program.
There are several ways to perform this random act of kindness. You can send cards on your own, or you can try hosting a card-making party — to spread the love to 
multiple soldiers serving in the military.
Please make sure you follow these guidelines when sending cards through the Holiday Mail for Heroes program. Following these rules will ensure a quick reviewing process.
Holiday Mail for Heroes Card Guidelines:
All holiday cards will be screened for hazardous materials. After this initial screening process, they will then reviewed by Red Cross volunteers.
- Please make sure to sign your card.
- When writing your card, use a generic greeting like “Dear Service Member.” (Note: cards addressed to specific individuals cannot be delivered through this program.)
- Do not insert anything into your card/envelope – including photos or letters. These items will be removed by the Red Cross during the review process.
![Send a Holiday Card to a Soldier]()
- This is not a pen pal program; do not include any contact information on the card (phone number, email, or home address).
- Please do not use cards with glitter of any sort. Glitter can aggravate some health issues of ill and/or injured soldiers.
- If you are mailing a large number of cards, please place them all in a large mailing envelope or flat rate postal shipping box. Each card does not need its own envelope. (All cards will be removed from their envelopes before distribution.)
Upon completion, all holiday cards should be addressed and sent to:
Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456
Please note: The deadline for having cards to the post office box is December 6th. Holiday cards received after this date cannot be guaranteed delivery.
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